Eban and Charley

This sensitive and daring drama from writer-director James Bolton chronicles the forbidden love affair between a 29-year-old man (Brent Fellows) and a lonely 15-year-old boy (Giovanni Andrade). Ellie Nicholson, Drew Zeller, Pam Munter, Ron Upton., James Bolton directs this spare, sensitive depiction of an uncomfortable subject — man-boy love. Gawky and awkward late twenty-something Eban (Brent Fellows) returns suddenly to his Washington state hometown after a stint as a Seattle soccer coach. He is vague about his reasons for leaving while his parents seem to have adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy towards their son. While slacking about town, he happens upon lanky, teenaged skatepunk Charley (Giovanni Andrade) and aggressively pursues a friendship with the lad, under the ruse of swapping guitar and sign language lessons. Forced to live with his ill-tempered, long-divorced father, Charley reveals himself to be a quick learner both at signing and at hand gestures of a different sort, yet he fails to grasp the consequences of his sticky encounters with a man almost twice his age. Later, as the fathers of both parties learn of their sons’ entanglement, they also learn that Eban was forced to flee Seattle under threat of prosecution after having an affair with one of his charges. This film was screened at the 2000 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.